At least the rain has given me an excuse to sleep in and rest a little. My muscles need a break. (But I'll still go to yoga tonight.)

I'm kinda proud of my restraint: last night I got together at a Japanese restaurant with a bunch of old friends from high school. The pitchers of Kirin beer (which I love) kept coming, and I had NONE of it. I had a couple of miniscule cups of sake. I barely even got buzzed. I just enjoyed the taste with the food. They were all trashed by the end of the meal and ready to move on to one of my favorite bars. I hugged everyone goodbye and went home. I was in bed by 1 am, and today I have no regrets.

Amilita, I'm right there with you. I've cut back to one cup in the morning, and if I'm working, I have one small cup at the beginning of my shift which starts at 5pm. And I'm sorry to hear that your gym's re-opening has been postponed again. That SUCKS.

So, speaking of migraines and such, that's why I don't get a period, RisaLa. I used to take the pill in the normal way (with the 1 week of placebos) and I would only spot for a day, but I would get wicked migraines. My doc said it would be fine for me to take the active pills continuously to avoid this. I do just that, and I'm a much happier person. Some people argue that the pill causes weight-gain, but that's *usually* just water weight. For people like me, not being on the pill means severe PMS in which I'm so depressed and irrational that I can totally justify eating half a bucket of fried chicken, a pint of mashed potatoes, and a root beer float in one sitting, thus causing real weight-gain vs. a little pill-induced water retention that I can just sweat out. Plus, without the pill, I'm cranky/tired/sluggish and wind up skipping any kind of physical activity. Oh, and before the pill, I got really bad pimples, which I used to hide under layers of makeup, which meant that I hated going places like the gym where I'd have to show my makeup-free, pimply complexion to the world. And that concludes my mini-essay on why the pill rocks my world and why I still take it even though I no longer sleep with men.

RisaLa, what kind of allergy meds are you taking? Have you tried any of the sprays like Nasonex? I start taking that before the leaves bud on the trees and I'm good to go all spring. I do the saline spray and then that each morning and I can run outside without allergy/asthma crap getting in the way.

Catlady, yoga's a great primer for cardio. You'll probably start to feel so good that you'll want to do cardio soon. I had such an amazing yoga class on Friday that yesterday, despite my tendency to feel less motivated on rainy/cold/grey days, I had my best run ever. I really feel that it's connected.

Zora, that's great! I totally hear you on that weird, simulaneous energetic/tired feeling after running.

My co-worker ran nearly 18 miles the other day... and then CAME TO WORK that evening. He's 42. He only started running in his 30s. I want to be him when I grow up.

And maybe I will. Yesterday, I registered for a marathon this fall. Training sessions start in 3 weeks. Have I lost my mind?

Okay, so I got that 1 gram protein = 4 cal, 1 g carb=4 cal, and 1g fat= 9 cal. But how do I know how much I should have of each? I've been trying to gain some tone along with overall weight/fat loss. I have skinny legs and I want to thicken them up, I also want to add muscle to my flabby arms. Anyway... one website (a bodybuilding one) suggested an almost absurb amount of protein (1g per lb) so I cut it down to about 100 g protein a day with remaining cals divided reasonably between fat & carbs (keeping under 35 g fat). Anyway, now I'm seeing all this stuff about high protein (over 50 g) being bad.

I'm definitely not doing a "low carb" diet and I know I'm getting TONS of fiber and water. So I guess this long drawn out question is: is too much protein really bad? It all comes from lean sources (fish, chicken, & supplements). I mean, I feel I've gained more muscle mass this summer compared to last and I really like that!

I hate how all studies have at least one other conflicting study. I just don't know what to do with myself.